Seven years of this linkup, friends! Thanks for reading books, sharing what you're reading in comments here or on some other form of media, sharing Show Us Your Books posts with your friends, linking up your posts, and interacting with Show Us Your Books in any way. Jana and I appreciate our reading community so much. The linkup is at the bottom as usual, and we hope you read through each other's posts and be in true book people community together.
There's also a giveaway to enter at the bottom. The two bigger prizes are a $25 gift card to Bookshop.org so you can grab a book or two while supporting a small, local bookstore. Smaller prizes include book socks bought at Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, VT, and some books that were pre-ordered via Harriett's Book Shop (did you know she has a sister shop, Ida's now?) to support Black women authors like Consumed: On Colonialism, Climate Change, Consumerism, and the Need for Collective Change by Aja Barber and All Her Little Secrets by Wanda M. Morris (comes out 11/2 so will ship to you from us around then), and either a book or merch from Harriett’s (limit $25). Enter to win at the bottom of the post.
One more ask - please read my friend Shelby Cohen's short story The Lady of Rever (through that link it's free) and passing it along, and please consider pre-ordering Breonna Brownlee's (bloggers, you probably know her from Bre Writes) book Two Too Many coming out in December. It's $5 on kindle, and the great majority of us can spare a fiver to support a debut author. Debut authors and up and coming authors need those pre-orders when we can afford to do them, especially Black authors who do not get the same play from publishers.
Here's what I've been reading since the last linkup.
Engrossing Reads
The Unseen World by Liz Moore - I adored Long Bright River for its truthful and sensitive grapple with addiction and mental illness and its Philadelphia setting, so I was happy to find this one in Liz Moore's back catalog to be quite good as well. TW for alzheimer's, this was so interesting to me on so many levels. I flew through it. OCNJ library
My Monticello by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson - I’m not typically a short story reader. I'm glad I put that down to read this. The writing was tremendous here. I devoured all of them quickly. Virginia left me breathless.
Did I Say You Could Go by Melanie Gideon - Here is an example of a book I did not love but sits in this category because it was compulsively readable and hard to put down despite the unloveable characters and holes. These people are fucked up!
Buses are a Comin': Memoir of a Freedom Rider by Charles Person- Jana texted me about this when she read it a while back and I got my hands on it and she was right, I loved it...in the way that you can love a book about this subject matter. An important read, and one that really brings out all the emotions. I am so proud that humans like Charles Person and other Freedom Riders exist. Angry, frustrated, ashamed, and horrified at why we have come to know them and the fact that things are still not different enough in this country, that we still have not fully reconciled our past here, which is why the present is not great either.
The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman - Alice did herself dirty with the Owens family saga - the books were written in one order and chronologically flow in another, hugging Practical Magic on both sides which by all accounts is the least favorite of most people. If you read Practical Magic and didn't like it, please try the two books that were written after it that actually precede it (Magic Lessons then The Rules of Magic), then just think Practical Magic movie thoughts in your head because that is one of two instances where I prefer the movie over the book, then come back in and try this one, which is not as good as Lessons and Rules but still worth it. I love the Owens family minus Sally. This is in the engrossing column because I wanted to know the book end of the Owens family, otherwise it would be pass the time just fine. Pre-ordered, own, book publishes 10/12, also received a free copy from Netgalley
Passed the Time Just Fine
Just Like the Other Girls by Claire Douglas - Very readable, although a little jumbled. I flew through it. OCNJ library
The Mother Next Door by Tara Laskowski - I couldn't figure out what was what through a lot of this, which is of course the point. Some things fell flat but it was a good heading toward Halloween read. Free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, book publishes 10/12
Not a Happy Family by Shari Lapena - Lapena is standardly beloved, and I read her books, but typically feel take it or leave it about them at the end. This one was no different. OCNJ library
Brat: An '80s Story by Andrew McCarthy - Possibly my favorite Brat Packer aside from Rob Lowe, I had to read this. No gossip, just low key 80s focused stuff. I would have liked to hear more stories involving others that weren't gossipy even but it passed the time just fine. Free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
The World Played Chess by Robert Dugoni - A quick read and quite different than the other Robert Dugoni books I’ve read. I liked William’s parts the best. I wish the third POV was the son, but a good read all around aside from some parts that felt self indulgent on the part of the author. Free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
Friends Like These by Kimberly McCreight - Loved Reconstructing Amelia, Where They Found her and A Good Marriage were also good. This one was rough. Readable, but rough. OCNJ library
Not Worth It
n/a
The Power Couple by Alex Berenson - Stuck in the mud on this one because I just didn't feel like it. Normalize not finishing books because you don't feel like it. It took me a long time to get there but I'm there and it is like book utopia all the time. Kidnapping stories are not my favorite.
Linkup Guidelines:
2. Link back to us in your blog post - if you want the button you can get it from that link
This link up is the second Tuesday of every month. The next linkup is Tuesday, November 9, 2021.
1. Visit and comment with both of your hosts, Jana & me, and check in with as many in our reading circle as you can - give some love to the later linker uppers! 2. Link back to us in your blog post - if you want the button you can get it from that link
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